Virginia's Sister Vanessa

“I shall be cheerful, but I shall never be happy again.” 

- Vanessa Bell, after the death of her son 

Vanessa Bell, self portrait

Drive My Blues Away

This CD has been the soundtrack of our lives for the past week.

You can have a listen to it HERE and see if it's your cup of tea. If it isn't ... what's wrong with you?

The Star

Even when you don’t see them, the stars are always there.

There is meaning and guidance, but you have to look for it. 

And take care of business while you're looking.

Walk with Kate

I walked to the corner

And turned back at the signs

Back toward our place, way back there in those distant trees on the left

Isn't it beautiful? Sigh.

The grassy driveway into our back yard

Unforgettable Everett

Lately I've been missing my boy. We text and email a bit, and I phone occasionally, but it's not the same as having him here. I'm reduced to watching this old video I took through the living room window a couple winters ago, when he was out refilling the birdfeeders. And how nice to see old Casper again, too.

Enjoy the song. At least, till the camera operator starts warbling along.

╰დ╮❤╭დ╯

Wadena News: Fiddling Sensation Calvin Vollrath concert & dance Oct.26, 7pm, Tuffnell Community Hall

╰დ╮❤╭დ╯

Card for today:

Bask in joy, health & abundance.

How fortunate are you!

The Hermit

Sunday morning, bedside table

The gal in the pic (it's a business card I use as a bookmark) is Hilary Grist, who came out to Pilger and gave a house concert at Joanne's. Ah, here's the entry I made: go back in time to fall 2010.

Normally I drink my coffee black, but there was some whipping cream in the fridge I want to use up, so ... it's super tasty, but alas, the beverage goes down my throat like a raging river instead of appreciative sips. Too much caffeine too quickly.

I love mornings "off" to indulge in reading and writing. What am I saying? All my mornings are like this!

Sunday morning on the other side of me

Even if I've told you already and am repeating myself, it's worth telling again:

Keeping a whole clove in your mouth in the general vicinity of aching gums or toothache works like magic. 

Wadena is getting a dentist! It's about time. 

According to the Wadena News:

"Dr. Dany Malaxos is opening a practice Tues, Oct.23. Hours of operation: Tues, Wed, Thurs. Call for appointments. 230 Main Street N."

Tarot card for today: the Hermit. 

I still have a lot to learn. 

Barbershop Horses

Showed Emil the barbershop horses.
See them for yourself and be sure to click on each one:
Barbershop Horses.

Very Very Very Fine House

This dining room set is about 20 years old, a hand-me-down from Mom and Dad. I had it shipped out from Kelowna after Mom died, when Dad decided to replace much of their furniture. The upholstery is still as good as new, so it seems almost wasteful but ... I want to have them re-covered with a lighter, solid colour. They remain the best kitchen chairs ever; the rollers still work like the dickens. Like I said to Morgan yesterday morning when he sat down in one of them and exclaimed about it: when we get company and sit first at the kitchen table, we rarely make it beyond and into the living room. You can sit in these chairs for hours and be perfectly content.

Something I want to get rid of is the paper fruit! But I refuse to throw it out; it's too cute, with its stems and leaves and all. A bigger challenge is finding a place to store away the veggie-and-dip tray now holding some of the paper fruit (and real fruit). I bought it some years ago and have never used it for its intended purpose. It just takes up space we don't have right now, with the kitchen cupboards full and the basement torn apart. No closet can take it; we need every inch of counter space that we have; it's just in the way and serves no useful function.

We had a rainy day earlier this week and Scott was going to tackle the water pump and replace the toilet, then ended up not doing it, so it still takes half an hour to run enough water for a bath, and to flush the toilet you have to pour a gallon of water, collected from the bathtub spout, into it. We don't find this a hardship, really, as there's just the two of us during the week, but thought Doc and Morgan would be more comfortable in a hotel where they could at least have a shower and sleep on good-quality beds. It seemed to me these things would be important to anyone travelling as much as they are from place to place.

It turned out that the hotel where they ended up (because the better one —we have two in town — was full-up with hunters) was not very welcoming (beds not particularly good, owner making a loud ruckus in the hall because rooms had been rented to them when he had other plans, coffee pots in rooms in such bad shape they couldn't be used)(they weren't complaining, but gave an honest answer when I asked for a report)(have you seen enough brackets yet?) so they might have been better off out here anyway. Next time through, I told them, we will put them up here. Surely by then Scott will have the water problems sorted. Right? It is to dream.

Travelling Minstrels in the House

Morgan Davis with his cigar-box guitar

Only three strings, but the sound he can get out of that thing!

It was an excellent show, as expected. Somewhat embarrassing for a town of 1500 to only manage to get about 11 bums into the the hard wooden pews on a cold rainy night, when the quality of entertainment is so high. Guess there aren't many blues lovers around here.

Or maybe it's less that, than the fact that there seemed to be other things going on in town last night. There's always something, actually; there's a lot of activity in this town.

Anyway, we've invited Doc and Morgan out for breakfast, so when they roll out of their hotel-beds at the late hour (musicians' hours, they tell me) of 9 or so, and find their city-boy way out here, we'll fill them up with coffee and toast, eggs and bacon, and send them on their merry way.

Time for me to get out of my pyjamas I guess.

Doc with one of his fans

Evening Out

Carsten, Clover, and Cookie have lost their mittens?

Just as I was reminding myself to pick a warmish day and get out there to water-in my perennials  (which won't die; their foliage remains green as can be) for winter, the wee hours of the morning brought rain. And more rain. And rain rain rain. It's been raining all day. This is good. Not that I've been out in it. Spent the day at the computer instead, working.

But I do have to go in 15 minutes, as we're heading to town to pick Emil up and attend a house concert. Doc MacLean and Morgan Davis are on their "Blues Emergency Tour"  (where does Doc come up with these handles? he is a natural promoter) and performing in the Anglican church at 7:30.

Scott is reminding me to get ready. Are you ready? Don't you have to do anything to get ready? He's just out of the tub and putting on clean clothes. Me, I was born ready. Heh. OK, I will brush my teeth and shove some cash into my pocket.

The three remaining kittens ventured all the way to the house yesterday, and the dogs didn't do their job and chase them off. Damn dogs. They'll chase when you don't want them to, though.

Best go make sure nothing green or fuzzy is hanging from my teef.

Oh I Am My Mother's Daughter All Right

Go to THIS LINK, click on "Listen," and you will hear Shirley Jones sing "Till There Was You."

How beautiful is her voice. How beautiful is it???

I'm not kidding when I say it brings tears to my eyes.

Wow.

Bedtime for All Dog's Creatures

I remember the first nights I stayed alone at this house, how the uncurtained windows let the night in and the yardlight illuminated the endless dark space outside. It was a bit unnerving; it spooked me.

Now the yard out there is familiar and I look out at it quite comfortably as I walk from one room to another with the house lights out.

Sometimes in the wee hours I lie on the couch in the living room and watch the shadows of the trees shimmy against the wall, thanks to the yardlight streaming through the picture window. It does have its benefits, although I still believe if we could shut it off we might see the northern lights more often from our living room.

Oh Deer Me

mother decides to re-trace steps and is followed by fawn

I as thrilled as ever

You’d think / seeing deer so often / it would get old / but it never does

Dog's Heaven

Resting place of Casper Doodle

Chicken Lady

One of my all-time favourite Kids in the Hall sketches.

Three Amigos

Only three left of all the kittens born here this spring. They're getting brave, making their way toward the house. Last night I stepped out after dark and found them galloping across the lawn.

I go to the tractor shed every morning, scoop out dry food for them, carry a gallon of water to the electric bowl (there was ice on the water not long ago, so...) and cuddle them all. Not just these three. There are also four adults that insist on their due.

Ducky, for Danielle

Ducky Doodle is shivering, but does he want to come in? Hell no. He insists on being outside where he can keep an eye on the yard and the other dog (one of his girlfriends).

He is attached to a cord so that he and the old dog won't gang up on a kitten, and so that the two of them don't go a-wanderin' down the road and get run over. They take turns being tied up when they're out there together and no one is around to keep them in line.

He is wearing his fall jacket.

Sometimes when we've no plan to clip his collar to the cord, he runs over there and sits as if waiting for us to do it. So it doesn't seem as if he minds.

*** This has been a family service announcement for my niece Danielle, who raised Ducky Doodle from a pup.

Nuthin at All

And the sun, she is a-shinin'!
I have nothing to say. Nothing! But am looking forward to my walk.
First, to put in an hour's work. Toodle-oo....

Snow on Ground

Since it's snowed, I'd best show you the last of the photos taken on my walks.

Occasionally I venture across the road for a stroll. It's Scott's dad's family's original homestead quarter, and they still farm it, but the old yard remains.

I like it over there, but am also nervous, probably because I've gone off-road into bush and long grass. You'd think I was a deer keeping her senses peeled for the presence of a cougar.

Speaking of which, one was spotted in the farmyard of friends just a few miles from here. I need to start carrying a shilele (sp?) with a spear that pops out of the end if needed. Or a rifle over my shoulder.    Moose don't unnerve me, but the thought of being attacked by a large cat is another story.

Clocks Postcard

Click to Enlarge

The work of F.L. and Jos. Bily, Ridgeway, Iowa, Route No. 2. A collection of clocks which took over twenty years to construct. Some of the clocks stand ten feet high. The clocks are carved in different kinds of wood, some imported. Some of the clocks play chimes and have movable figures carved in wood. 

Flannel Shirt

The best thing about ten-dollar flannel shirts (I bought one for Scott when they were on sale at the local hardware store) is that after two washes they don't fit him anymore and I get 'em. This is my latest snuggly warm one. Just in time for snow.

My face is not happy. Since this morning it's missing its last wisdom tooth and is still half-frozen. Feels like a block of plasticine sitting on my neck.

I laid down when we got home but Scott woke me before he left again, as I've an appointment for a haircut in town in a half hour. Thought of cancelling it but hey, why screw up someone else's schedule just because I'm a bit achey? Off I go, over the wild white snow-covered roads.

Beautification Station

Saved from the frost and now happily in sunlight streaming through my bedroom window.

This corner of our house also happens to be the prosperity bagua (fengshui-speak), where it is wise to add purple.

It was impossible to resist these guys either, so they are parked in the kitchen for now:

They sure brighten up the place.

Amnesty Merchandise

Amnesty International's quarterly newsletter offered long-sleeved cotton T-shirts for $10 apiece. I stocked up.

To see the merchandise catalogue, CLICK HERE. Your purchases help support Amnesty International's work in the world. It is extremely important work. You want to help in any way you can.

Woman with Flowers in Pots

Another old picture of an unidentified woman. Who is she? Whose house is she kneeling outside of?  Why do I find this photo so striking?

Fall 2012

I often walk past the ravine.

On the west side of the road, the water has all but disappeared (click image to enlarge). Look at the trees it has drowned in the past few years. Someone left a couple rifle shells on the road yesterday. Probably shooting at a muskrat or maybe even a beaver. 

Oh these colours!!!!!

Sunlight warms a battered pail in the bush near our house.

What is not to love about Fall! We've had a beautiful one.

Question for Reta & Joanne

I am the keeper of many old photos from both sides of my family. There are quite a few in which the people are not identified.

I love some of these particular pictures though, and have kept them out to be framed and hung. Not that I have any space on the walls for more pictures, but ...

Above is one of them. I don't know either of these two ladies, but can't help thinking of Gertrude Stein and Alice Toklas whenever I see this photo (although my girls here are better looking). Isn't it lovely? They look so perfectly comfortable together, as if they've been friends forever. I'm not suggesting they were a lesbian couple, like Gertrude and Alice.

The handwriting on the back identifies one of them, and I am hoping that Reta or Joanne or anyone else can tell me something more.

Little Free Library

Reprinted from this week's issue of the Wadena News.

Good Teeth

Looks like a cosy place for a mouse family

Finally the weather seems normal for this time of year: cold.
Tuesdays are one of my regular walking days, so out I went yesterday, and made it to the end of the driveway before coming back in for more clothes. Brrr! When I got into the warmth of the porch I thought "The only thing warm enough for a three-mile walk will be my ski pants and winter jacket." Then I couldn't make myself put them on and go back out.

It happens. Today is not a regular walking day for me, but I'll go anyway.

The dentist discovered I've chipped a molar and decay has set in, so I need a filling. Which he can't do till next Tuesday. Fortunately for me, I've had no toothache for the past three days, and today looks promising as well. I hope my luck holds.

Still some colour in the trees around our place

Moonscape around house

We're off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of Wynyard! I've had a toothache -- or something -- going on for the past week, though it's been gone the last two days. Like magic, I figure, or a miracle. However it took a week to get this appointment with a dentist so I'm taking no chances. Toothaches are the suck! My body has been fighting the discomfort like a trooper, but obviously so, because fatigue was my constant friend till bedtime Saturday. A clove (thanks for that reminder, Shelly) held in the mouth was helpful when 500 mg Aspirin wasn't doing the trick on its own.

"Too nice a day to work!" one of these gents said as we pulled into a parking lot in town Saturday morning. Of course the first order of business had been breakfast, but once that was out of the way Scott had places to go, people to see, things to do. So did these other guys, but that didn't stop them from taking a few minutes to jaw in the sunshine while I sat in the truck and started my new library book, Water for Elephants.

Yielding to part of a convoy of combines coming along the correction line.

 It has been extremely dry and dusty.

The joke is that now we've done all these big jobs to hold back the water, next the well will dry up.
Heh heh.

Last Flowers of the Season ... Surely

Helen's Flowers

Warm, even hot, days. Still I thought I'd best get out there and take the last bouquets of the year.

Sweetpeas and Lupins

Today I took pity on those left in the garden, and watered them. Watering flowers at the end of September -- it's just not done! But it seemed cruel to leave them thirsty, even if they are going to freeze black one of these nights.

Sweetpeas